Jaguars Soccer Season Finale, Senior Night On Friday At The Cage
The South Alabama Jaguars soccer team will be hosting Troy on Friday at 7pm at The Cage. This will be the regular season finale for the team.
It is also Senior night where two Jaguar seniors, Natalie Parsons and Rylle Pannell will be honored before the game. In addition, the Jags will be wearing pink uniforms in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.
The Jags, (8-8-3, 3-4-2 SBC) has a conference total of 11 points, good for sixth best in the conference. They took four points during their Louisiana road trip last week with a 4-0 win over ULM and a 1-1 double-overtime tie at ULL.
Troy (8-9-2, 3-5-1 SBC) is one point behind the Jags in seventh place with wins last week over both ULM and ULL to earn it’s fourth consecutive SBC Tournament berth. Three points by either team could translate into a higher seed in the tournament as well.
Come out to The Cage on Friday for the 7pm game and support your Jags!!
Fetner’s New Role Fits Him Well
Quarterbacks Trey Fetner and transfer Ross Metheny participating in position drills.
South Alabama’s Trey Fetner is enjoying his new role in the South Alabama offense. He entered fall camp looking to compete with Ross Metheny and C.J. Bennett for the starting spot but after suffering a concussion and missing practice time, he was the odd man out.
Metheny and Bennett split time at the position for the Jags first five games until the coaching staff named Metheny the starter. Bennett has not played in the last two games but Fetner has seen some limited action on short yardage situations from the Wildcat.
That play was first seen against Troy when he scored a touchdown on his first college play. As they enter the ULM game Fetner has nine carries, all in the last three games, for 24 yards and a touchdown.
He has an understanding and appreciation for his role in South Alabama’s offense. “I was real excited about this fall camp,” Fetner, a 6′ 220-pound quarterback, said. “I had a minor setback when I got injured, but I think it’s best for the team that C.J. and Ross competed for the starting job because we have a really good quarterback right now in Ross and C.J. is a great backup.”
“My role is to come in as a short-yardage guy,” Fetner continued. “My coaches trust me enough to put me in there on third-and-1 or third-and-2 and sometimes on fourth-and-1, and that gives me a great feeling. I’m really blessed and I’m thankful for the opportunity they have given me.”
South Alabama’s head coach Joey Jones believes Fetner is a perfect fit for the role, but also has a great attitude for it. “Trey, number 1, is a great leader and probably has the best attitude of anyone on the football team,” he said. “He’s come in and really helped us on third-down situations. The good thing about him is he’s able to run and throw. It’s critical that you make first downs when it’s third-and-2 and third-and-1 and he’s brought a lot of that to the table.”
“I think Trey has such a good attitude about life that he’s tickled to death doing what he’s doing,” Jones continued. “I’m sure he wants to be the starter, but bottom line is he wants to do what he can do to help the football team.”
Fetner was a five-year letterwinner at Woodland High and was rated a two-star prospect from Rivals.com. In his senior season he lead his team to a 9-3 record and into the Class 2A state playoffs. He had 2,800 yards of total offense with 35 touchdowns in that senior season. He also earned six letters in baseball and four in basketball helping both reach state playoffs.
Fetner had understands his role and will continue to work hard for the team. As he said, “My role is still in short yardage, but I’m preparing like I was the starter.”
Jags Tired But Get Work Done In Tuesday’s Practice
Head coach Joey Jones said that his team was tired and beat up after Tuesday’s practice. South Alabama is coming off of it first FBS and SBC win against Florida Atlantic where they had to go to double-overtime and block three field goal attempts in the game to win.
However coach Jones said that the team got their work done in practice as they prepare to go on the road to Monroe to face ULM, the lone undefeated team in Conference play.
“We were a little tired today, a little beat up,” Jones said. “This is that point in the season where they’re waking up in the morning a good bit and they’re tired. They had a real physical game the other day (in the 37-34 double overtime win over Florida Atlantic).”
“I didn’t think emotionally we brought much today,” Jones continued. “We were out here and we kind of did what we were supposed to do, but one thing we’ve got to learn is we’ve got to fight through that. Football is a tough game and it teaches you a lot of lessons and you’ve got to fight through that and come to work. They came to work, but they’re just kind of tired and beat down right now.”
ULM is coming off of a 43-42 overtime win against Western Kentucky to improve to 5-2 (3-0 SBC) on the season. They opened the season with a 34-31 overtime win over then eighth-ranked Arkansas and also have a 53 point win over Tulane in New Orleans. Their two losses have come to Auburn in overtime and to Baylor by five points.
ULM comes into the game ranked first in the Sun Belt in scoring and total offense by averaging 39.4 points per game and 471.3 yards per game.
“They’re great offensively, they present so many problems,” coach Jones observed. “What they do is so different. They run a lot of empty, five wide receiver stuff and the quarterback is just uncanny in his ability to make plays. He just has an unbelievable knack for making plays, and he’s a big reason for why they are so successful offensively.”
Kolton Browning, ULM’s quarterback, was named the SBC Offensive player of the week. He leads the conference with an average of 273.4 yards per game. He has completed 61.1% of his passes by going 168-of-275 for 1,914 yards and 18 touchdowns.
ULM’s Brent Leonard and Taverese Maye are two of the top receivers in the conference. Leonard has 42 catches for 423 yards and three touchdowns while Maye has 33 catches for 337 yards and two touchdowns. Je’Ronn Hamm and Colby Harper have 29 receptions each while Hamm leads the team with 493 yards receiving.
Jyruss Edwards has 413 yards rushing with six touchdowns but also has 12 catches for 157 yards receiving.
The Jags really stepped up in the fourth quarter against FAU. They had back-to-back drives of 80 and 85 yards to tie the game. The controlled the ball for a total of 10:30 in the fourth quarter.
“When we were down 14 [points], I didn’t see quit in anybody on the sideline,” explained Jones in his Monday press conference. “Once we got the ball and drove down and scored to get within seven, I knew we had a shot. The defense came out and forced a three-and-out, and then we got the ball back and drove 85 yards for a touchdown. What makes me feel good is that these guys have been working their tails off all this time, and to have some rewards on the field for their hard work meant a lot to me for them, and they deserved it.”
The Jags and the Warhawks will kick off at Malone Stadium at 6pm in Monroe, Louisiana.
SBC Teams Have Close Weekend, Show Competitive Spirit
South Alabama will go from facing FAU, a team who has not won a Sun Belt Conference game this season, to Louisiana-Monroe who has not lost a Sun Belt Conference game this season.
ULM has been part of the reason why the Sun Belt Conference is having it’s best season ever. They defeated Arkansas after coming from behind and nearly defeated Auburn. They also played Baylor very close.
Middle Tennessee State defeated Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Western Kentucky defeated Kentucky. They all turned the national spotlight on a conference trying to get better and to be mentioned among the top of the “non-AQ” conferences.
This past weekend was another example of the competition in the Sun Belt. The Jags defeated FAU in double overtime for their first-ever FBS win.
ULM defeated Western Kentucky 43-42 in overtime on the road where ULM went for a two-point conversion for the win. This was after they trailed 28-7 in the second quarter. Both teams had been unbeaten in Sun Belt play.
Troy’s Will Scott hit a 42 yard field goal with 11 seconds left for the Trojans first home win this season.
Furthermore on Tuesday night of last week, North Texas upset Louisiana-Lafayette 30-23 when they had trailed 20-7 in the second half.
More Conference sparks could fly this evening when Arkansas State (4-3, 2-1 SBC) travels to ULL (4-2, 2-1 SBC) for the Tuesday night game on one of the ESPN networks. Then this weekend South Alabama (2-5, 1-2 SBC) travels to ULM (5-2, 3-0 SBC), Troy (4-3, 3-2 SBC) visits FAU (1-6, 0-4 SBC), North Texas (3-4, 2-1 SBC) travels to MTSU (4-3, 2-1 SBC) and finally Western Kentucky (5-2, 2-1 SBC) visits FIU (1-7, 0-4 SBC).
Mind you, FIU is winless in conference play while they were the preseason pick to win the conference championship.
Troy, FAU, ULL and South Alabama all have non-conference games left this season where they can put their name, and the Sun Belt’s name, back in the headlines again this season. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Monday Press Conference
South Alabama blocks the overtime field goal attempt by FAU’s Mitch Anderson in the second overtime possession by the Owls.
The University of South Alabama held their Monday press conference. Head coach Joey Jones was joined by defensive lineman and Sun Belt Special teams player of the week Pat Moore and wide receiver Gabe Loper to recap Saturday’s game against Florida Atlantic and to look ahead to this weekend’s match-up with Louisiana-Monroe.
Below are highlights from the press conference.
Coach Jones began with his opening statement. “We’re very excited about our win [over FAU] this past weekend. I can’t tell you enough about our young men and staff for what they’ve done to put this thing together. We not only played well this past weekend, but I also thought we played well the weekend before at Arkansas State. We’re getting better, and we came through in the fourth quarter [last weekend] like we needed to. It was a great win for us and something we’ve been striving for, so my hat’s off to our team.”
Jones then answered a question concerning what he learned about his team after Saturday’s come-from-behind win over FAU. “I told them [the team] after the game that when we were down 14 [points], I didn’t see quit in anybody on the sideline. Once we got the ball and drove down and scored to get within seven, I knew we had a shot. The defense came out and forced a three-and-out, and then we got the ball back and drove 85 yards for a touchdown. What makes me feel good is that these guys have been working their tails off all this time, and to have some rewards on the field for their hard work meant a lot to me for them, and they deserved it. I told them that I don’t know if anybody deserves anything, but I felt like they deserved that win.”
He then addressed a question concerning switching Gabe Loper from defensive back to offense. “Gabe [Loper] was a receiver pretty much most of the years he has played football. He played safety a couple of seasons in junior college, but is probably naturally a receiver. We have a lot of people playing press coverage against us, and we felt like we needed to get another guy over there [on offense] that could make plays against press coverage and he did that [last weekend]. You have to have some big plays when they [opposing defense] are doing that, and he really pulled through for us.”
Jones then previewed Louisiana-Monroe. “If I had to rate a team number one in the league, and I know they are just based on the [conference] standings, they are the best team I have seen in the league overall. They’re great offensively, they present so many problems. What they do is so different. They run a lot of empty, five wide receiver stuff and the quarterback [Kolton Browning] is just uncanny in his ability to make plays. He just has an unbelievable knack for making plays, and he’s a big reason for why they are so successful offensively. And they do a great job scheme-wise too.”
“Defensively, they take a lot of chances and play zero coverage and man coverage. You have to be ready for blitzes. They [ULM] are hard to prepare for both offensively and defensively, because you don’t see that type of scheme pretty much anywhere else in the league. That’s what is so difficult, and you put on top of that that they are playing so confident right now. You can tell they are playing with a lot of confidence.”
He then talked about ULM quarterback Kolton Browning. “He’s what I call football-savvy. He understands the game and has an innate ability to make plays on the field. His pocket-presence is unbelievable. It seems like if someone is coming behind him, he knows they’re coming without seeing them and he will step up and make a play or run the ball. There’s so many times where defensive linemen get there, and they can’t tackle him. He must be really strong to break tackles. And with all that, he’s aware of the pocket and what’s going on downfield. That’s a very rare thing to have. When he scrambles he has his eyes downfield, and he can make plays on the move. He’s the toughest one [quarterback] that I think we’re going to go against, from the standpoint of what all he can do because he can do so many things. He just makes plays all over the field, and makes great decisions.”
He then spoke about the ULM defense itself. “Our offensive line and [running] backs are going to have to do a great job of picking up the blitz. We have to be able to throw and catch it. We’re pretty balanced. We like to run the football and we’re going to have to run it some against them but we’re also going to have to complete passes to have a chance to move the ball.”
Coach Jones then answered a question about moving forward after the program’s first FBS and SBC win. “It’s a great opportunity for us to play against the best in the league, and that excites our players. We’re going to go out there ready to go. They [ULM] have a great football team, and they’ll let us know where we are as far as competing against the top in the league.”
Defensive lineman Pat Moore first spoke about the importance of getting the win over FAU on Saturday. “It was a big win for us. We’ve been looking forward to getting a win and turning it around. Hopefully we can win again and make it contagious and keep it going. We’re trying to keep pushing and get more wins for our team.”
He then spoke about his two blocked field goals against FAU. “It wasn’t something that was designed, I was just feeling the moment. I had to do something. I had to make a play. I just happened to be in the right position. I got my hands up and I made sure I could block it.”
Moore then spoke about the mood on the sideline during the FAU game. “We’re not going to quit in any game we play. We’ll always finish all the way through. We were down but we were trying to get our team up. We said ‘We’re going to finish this. We want to make history for our team.’ We had to rally up and turn it around.”
Wide receiver Gabe Loper also spoke about the importance of getting the win over FAU. “It was a huge win for our team. To take on a team like Florida Atlantic, a very aggressive team in our conference, and win in double overtime was a morale builder. We have to take that confidence with us when we play Louisiana-Monroe. They’re a powerhouse in the Sun Belt, they’re right up there with Arkansas State, who won the conference last year. To get the FAU win before we go on the road this week is going to be huge for us. This could be a pivotal point in our season.”
He then spoke about making the switch from defense to offense. “This was something that I pushed for. I’ve been longing for it for a long time and I never thought it would really happen. It was something that I wanted and something that I had the ability to do, I played receiver in high school. I’ve always wanted to work myself back toward that position. I would joke with the coaches, saying, ‘Throw me over there, I can make plays for you.’ But for them to have faith in me to learn the system and to throw me in a game as big as FAU, it was a big role for me and I had big shoes to fill.”
He filled those shoes well and gave extra spark to the Jaguar offense.
Jaguar Men’s Basketball Team Public Scrimmage Today At 4pm
The South Alabama Jaguar Men’s Basketball team will hold a public intrasquad scrimmage on Tuesday afternoon at the Striplin Practice Facility.
The scrimmage is open to the public and will begin at 4pm.
Then on Wednesday evening fans will be able to meet head coaches Ronnie Arrow and Rick Pietri as well as the men’s and women’s basketball teams.
The meet and greet will be held on the main floor of the Mitchell Center and will include an autograph session with the coaches and players. Bring your memorabilia to be signed and cameras for photos with your favorite Jaguar players.
This even is also free to the public as is parking for the event. The meet and greet will run from 5pm to 7pm.
Following the meet and greet, fans are encouraged to go to Jag Gym to support the Jaguar Volleyball team as they take on Jackson State at 7pm.
Jags Soccer Come Back For 1-1 Tie
The South Alabama Jaguar soccer team concluded their Sunday match with Louisiana-Lafayette with a 1-1 draw. The Jags (8-8-3, 3-4-2 SBC) fell behind in the 27th minute when the Ragin’ Cajuns made a kick from outside 18 yards.
Fifteen minutes into the second half the Jags tied the match when Linsey Snavely’s corner kick was headed in by Shawn Meach. This kept the Jags in sixth place in the conference and in the Sun Belt Conference Championships.
The Jags will host Troy on Friday for a match that is scheduled for 7pm on Friday, October 26th at The Cage. Troy is 8-9-2 on the year and 3-5-1 in SBC play. The Jags hold a slight edge, 4-3-1, all-time against Troy. All matches at The Cage are free to the public.
Moore Named Sun Belt Special Teams Player Of The Week
South Alabama blocks the overtime field goal attempt by FAU’s Mitch Anderson in the second overtime possession by the Owls.
For the second week in a row a Jaguar has been named the special teams player of the week in the Sun Belt Conference.
Pat Moore, a 6’3″ 235-pound junior defensive end who transfered into the program from Northeast Mississippi Community College, was credited with two blocked field goals in the Jaguars first-ever FBS victory and their first Sun Belt victory as well. He blocked a 32 yard attempt with 12 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime where he would also block a 44 yard attempt in FAU’s possession of the second overtime period.
He also made three tackles in the game, all three were tackles for loss with one being a sack.
Louisiana-Monroe quarterback Kolton Browning was named the Sun Belt offensive player of the week for his performance against Western Kentucky where they erased a 28-7 deficit to win in overtime. Browning went 22-for-41 for 308 yards and four touchdowns.
North Texas linebacker Zach Orr was named Sun Belt defensive player of the week for his effort against Louisiana-Lafayette where he had nine tackles and an interception. He ranks second in the conference in tackles and is tied for sixth in interceptions.
Jaguar Volleyball Team Stays Perfect At Home
The South Alabama Volleyball team posted their 13th win of the season on Sunday when they defeated Louisiana-Lafayette at Jag Gym. En route to the win, Savannah Stewart, Melissa Waelter and Torlandria Jones all recorded double-digit kills in the 3-1 win.
Stewart led the team with 17 kills while adding seven digs and an ace. Waelter had 16 kills and 18 digs for her fourth consecutive double-double and her seventh of the season. Jones had 10 kills and led the team with four total blocks, one solo and three assists.
Senior setter Katariina Kananen also had a double-double in the match, her ninth of the season and 24th of her career, with 36 assists and 18 digs.
The Jags (13-11, 6-4 SBC) are just one win away from matching the most wins since the 1995 season. Also the six conference wins are tied for the program record, matching the total amount of conference wins during the 2010 season. They are a perfect 6-0 at home.
UL-Lafayette falls to 14-12 overall and 5-5 in the Sun Belt and breaking their four-match winning streak.
Jaguars Grit Key To Win On Saturday
Head coach Joey Jones chats with Ross Metheny on the sidelines at the end of halftime.
Why did the Jaguars win? The defense kept it close and the offense was able to produce.
Trailing by 14 points early in the fourth quarter, the Jags kept grinding, fighting and attacking. The ground out a pair of touchdowns and blocked two field goals to give Michel Chapuseaux a chance to kick the game-winner in the second overtime period.
South Alabama dominated the time of possession in the fourth quarter by controlling the ball for 10:30 in the final quarter of regulation. The key drive that controlled most of the time went 80 yards in 13 plays and capped off by Demetre Baker’s run.
Then to tie the game, quarterback Ross Metheny found Gabe Loper in only his second game at wide receiver for a one-handed touchdown reception.
Pat Moore kept the game alive with a blocked field goal at the end of regulation play to send the game into overtime. He also blocked the attempt in the first overtime to set up the game-winning attempt in the second overtime period.
After the game, head coach Joey Jones said at the end of his post-game press conference, that the fans who left early missed a great finish. “Those people who left, they missed a heck of a football game,” Jones said. “It was a heck of a football game and it got exciting. I appreciate the fans that stayed with us in the fourth quarter.”
South Alabama will refocus and prepare for their trip to Monroe, Louisiana to face the Warhawks. ULM defeated Arkansas earlier in the season in overtime and lost to Auburn in overtime.
Kickoff is set for 6pm on the ULM website.